Hermanito en Guatemala!

After nearly 21 months living in Guatemala, my brother Aaron made it down here to see what I've been up to. I kept him pretty busy, we visited Antigua, Guatemala City, Lake Atitlan, and some smaller local places. I also dragged him to work with me for 4 days and even got him to help me build a gate for the children's library I'm working on. I had a blast and despite 2 seriously burned legs, so did he! Photo evidence of the fun:

9 Things: An Update

A few months ago I blogged about 9 things I'd like to do before I finish my Peace Corps service in October. By way of an update I have the following to offer...

Garden planted!


Beer brewed!

Keep checking for updates....there are more to come:)

The Day I Knew I Was Culturally Integrated...

..was not the day that Spanish rolled off my tongue thoughtlessly or the day I ate 5 tortillas at a meal, it was the day my 4 host brother was crying from cutting onions and instead of snatching the sharp, potentially dangers tool from him, I ran upstairs to bring him my swimming goggles so he could continue cutting, tearlessly. Apparently I've grown accustomed to children carrying around machetes and such. Oh my.

International Women's Day

In celebration of el Día Internacional de la Mujer I'd like to say a few words about some of the incredible women that I've been working with for the last 18 months. As I've alluded to in other posts, women here have the cards stacked seriously against them. First, Guatemala is infamous for "machismo." Machismo is a kind of socialized sexism that says that men are dependent on women for everything, that they should and will always be subservient, that their minds are weaker and their bodies good only for serving the "stronger" sex. Second, the women I live with are poor, often extremely poor. They are dependent on their land to produce so that they can eat, and in years of drought or plague the consequences are grave. Lastly, the women I work with are indigenous. Though their culture is rich and ancient, they are treated as second-class citizens by many of their Spanish-descent neighbors. They struggle to understand in school (if they are lucky enough to go) and they have to fight tooth and nail to gain the place in society that people of the dominant culture treat as a birthright.

Despite the odds, and all of the boulders placed in their paths, many of these women thrive. They whisper to each other that the world doesn't have to be as it is, that domestic violence and lack of education don't need to be the norm; they fight for the development of their communities, for their rights to clean water, education and vaccination for their children. And little by little they change themselves and the people around them. They are strong, they are persistent and they are inspiring.

Audy Turns One

Last weekend I had the great privilege of being invited to the birthday party of my friend Wendy's baby, Audy. In contrast to the other birthday party I wrote about, six months or so ago, this party was an intimate family-only affair where Audy's first year of life and the love of her incredible family were celebrated. Wendy is a single mom, living with her incredibly supportive parents and her two younger siblings. I've had the joy of watching Audy grow from a bundle tied to her mother's back into the lively one year old that she is. It took her a while to warm up to me, but now she knows me well and makes "ojitos" (heart-melting combination of winking and head shrugging) whenever I come over. I love this family.

Carnival: Round 2

There's something about holidays in Latin America; they're a little bigger, noisier, food-ier. It's like they take a holiday that the rest of us celebrate and add something extra. Fat Tuesday is no exception. I've always found Fat Tuesday to be a strange celebration in the US- we indulge on the day before lent begins, so that we can then go without that which we indulged in for the next 40 days. Slightly bizarre, if you ask me.

Here in Guatemala, Fat Tuesday or Carnival, is a chance for kids to run amok in the streets. Any semblance of parental control is relinquished for the day as kids roam the streets searching for victims on whom to smash confetti- filled eggs and smear metallic grease paint on. Though annoying, if you frequently have to walk between your office and house, making you an easy and predictable target, it is a hilarious practice. I left the camera safe in it's case for most of the day, but managed to snap a few shots of some more docile moments.

San Valentin

I went to elementary school with this kid whose Greek family owned the little pizza joint in our town. In third grade, for Valentine's day he made our beloved teacher Miss Billera a heart shaped pizza covered with anchovies, her favorite. There it lay, atop her desk amidst the pile of homemade paper cards and boxes of sweethearts- shaming the rest of us for our lack of creativity. To this day, it remains in my mind the coolest valentine I've ever seen.

The kids I live with, Jose, Ulises and Sofia love pizza. So I decided I'd take a page from my elementary school pal's book and make them some heart shaped pizzas, topped with their own favorite ingredients (and in true Guatemalan fashion also topped with ketchup and chile). It was a hit...